1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to improvements in roof drilling systems used in the industry, mining and construction fields.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) has become widely used in making cutting tool inserts. PCD materials are formed of fine diamond powder sintered by intercrystalline synthesis technology into a predetermined layer or shape; and such PCD layers are usually bonded to a substrate of “precemented” tungsten carbide to form a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) or insert (e.g. cutting element). The term “high density ceramic” (HDC) is sometimes used to refer to a mining tool having an insert with a PCD layer. The term “chemical vapor deposition” (CVD) is a form of pure PCD used for inserts, and “thermally stable product” (TSP) is another form of pure diamond that can be bonded to a carbide substrate or directly to a steel bit body using new vacuum furnace techniques by GE and Sandia Laboratories. Still other superhard surfacing and layered materials, such as “advanced diamond composite (ADC)” and “nitride” compositions of titanium (TiN) and carbon (C2N2), are gaining acceptance in the mining field. All such superabrasive or superhard materials—PCD, TSP, CVD, ADC and nitride compositions are applicable to the present invention, and the terms “PCD” and “PCD” shall be considered inclusive of all.
Drag bits are one class of drill bits used in rotary drilling operations. Drag bits have PCD or like cutting elements which act to cut or shear the earth material. The action of some flushing medium (fluid drilling mud, water, a compressed air or vacuum system) is important in all types of drilling operations to cool the cutting elements and to flush or transport cuttings away from the cutting site to prevent accumulation of debris. The cooling action is particularly important in the use of PCD cutters to prevent carbon transformation of the diamond material at about 1250° F.
The prior art is replete with various cutting element designs directed by a desire to form structurally stronger, tougher and more wear-resistant and fracture-resistant tools. It is well-known for example, that superabrasive (PCD) cutting elements can fail caused by the fact that the materials comprising the superabrasive portion, or diamond table, and the substrate have different coefficients of thermal expansion, elastic moduli and bulk compressibilities. Thus the table and substrate materials of a PCD wafer shrink at different rates during cooling after formation and the diamond table tends to be in residually stressed tension while the substrate material tends to be in residually stressed compression when subjected to cutting loads during drilling operations which may result in fracturing of the cutting element. My prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,932 addressed these heat management problems.
My prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,180,022; 5,303,787 and 5,383,526 disclose substantial improvements in HCD roof drill bits using PCD cutting elements constructed in a non-coring arrangement, and also teach novel drilling methods that greatly accelerated the speed of drilling action as well as substantially reduced bit breakage and change-over downtime. These prior HCD non-coring drill bits are capable of drilling over 100-300 holes of 4 foot depth for a roof bolting matrix with a single bit and in shorter times with less thrust than the standard carbide bits in certain hard rock or sandstone formations of 22,000-28,000 psi compressive strength. Although these prior HCD bits drilled through such earth structures, it was discovered that some drill bits might plug in drilling through mud seams and other soft shale or broken earth formations and PCD cutting inserts may even shatter in working through stratus of extremely hard or fractured earth conditions. My U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,839 discloses another HCD roof drill bit designed to operate more efficiently in broken and muddy earth formations. It should be noted that in some metal/non-metal mining, and particularly in tunnel construction there is frequently extremely hard rock formations in the compressive strength range of 25,000 to 50,000 together with seams of other mud, shale and the like. My prior PCD bits are capable of achieving some success in these conditions, but drilling speeds are slow and fracturing of drill steel, couplers and drill bits frequently occurs.